Mid Atlantic Brewing News June/July 2017 : Page 1

Citizens Bank Park, home of the Philadelphia Phillies, at last count offered beers from 18 PHOTO BY WALLPAPERSAFARI.COM different craft breweries. By George Hummel verheard at a recent Phillies game: A wandering beer vendor shouts, “I have Coors Light and wooder [Philadelphian for “water”] here!” A fan from the stands asks, “What’s the difference?” Beer and baseball have come a long way in the City of Brotherly Love. You couldn’t even buy beer in the olden days at Connie Mac Stadium (originally Shibe Park) until 1961. Phils’ rooters smuggled beer in neverthe-less, and there were a few ugly instances in which fans hurled full cans of beer at umpires follow-ing controversial calls. That’s why, when beer sales were finally legalized, you drank Schmidt’s or Bal-lantine out of wax paper cups. After Veterans Stadium debuted in 1971, Ballantine fell by the wayside (the company ceased to ex-ist in 1972), and Schmidt’s was augmented by Budweiser . During its later days, the Vet featured a lone stand dubbed “Beers of the World,” which was hard to get to and featured a poorly curated selection of mostly imported beers (still in wax paper cups). De-funct 1990s craft brewer Red Bell Brewing made some inroads at the Vet, but confused beer lovers by declaring that every kiosk with their beer pouring was a “brewpub.” When Citizens Bank Park (aka “The Bank”) opened in 2004, Philly beer lovers felt as if they’d died and gone to heaven. Good beer, imported and craft, was ubiq-uitous. In recent years, there seems to have been a refocusing on AB-Inbev-supported brands, somewhere in the neighbor-hood of a 20-25% increase (a personal observation backed up by Foobooz, Philadelphia Magazine ’s online food and drink news). One plucky Phillies fan has compiled a com-plete list of craft and pseudo-craft beers (but no big brands) at the stadium so folks can pull out their smart phones and see what’s pouring section by section. Go to chocolate-coveredmemories.com/ cbp-brew-locator/. A quick tally from the website shows 18 craft brewers (not including Anheuser-Busch affiliates like Goose Island), most of them pouring multiple brands. Prices are $9-9.50 for a twelvish-ounce pour or pounder can. (And they now pour into clear plastic cups!) By Charles Pekow The Budweiser Brewhouse at Nationals Stadium in Washington, DC, PHOTO BY CHARLES PEKOW . (R) A fan enjoys a craft beer in Nationals Stadium. WASHINGTON.ORG C ome to Nationals Park in Washington, DC, and before you hear the Star Spangled Banner, you'll be reminded that Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABI) has taken over the place. Since it replaced MillerCoors as the team's official beer sponsor last year, ABI has renamed the Red Porch—a bar inside the main center field gate on the ground level—the Budweiser Brew House and Bud Light Loft. ABI also created the Devils Backbone Left Field Lodge on the gallery level, previously known as the Lime-A-Rita booth. (ABI bought up the Roseland, Va.-based Devils Backbone last See Game p. 2 INSIDE Strength Matters .......................... 7 Homebrew News .........................10 Book Review................................11 Maps ...................................... 14-17 Event Calendar ............................29 State by State News W. Virginia ........9 Virginia ...........12 C. Penn ............18 Philadelphia ...20 E. Penn ............22 Maryland ........24 Baltimore ........25 D.C. ..................27 New Jersey .....28 Delaware ........30 See Phillies p.6